Cultural ecosystem services provided by the Baltic Sea marine environment

Abstract Background The Baltic Sea ecosystems supply many benefits to society, termed ecosystem services. These depend upon a healthy marine environment requiring marine and relevant land-based policies integrated with public health policies. Until recently marine environment protection policies have largely focussed on human impacts on the environment and have not taken into account impacts of ecosystems on human health beyond the direct impacts of hazardous substances, such as those present in seafood. Whilst endeavours have been made to integrate human health and well-being into marine policies, interviews with key stakeholders through a participatory process revealed that the linkages were not sufficiently strong to inform policymaking. The existing evidence base urgently needs to be identified and synthesised to support relevant policy updates of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) 2008/56/EC and the Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP) (2007) as well as to help direct future research priorities. Method The protocol is based on the primary question, “What linkages have been researched between Baltic Sea ecosystems and the positive and negative impacts to human health and well-being?” Using systematic mapping, this study will identify and map the state and the geographical distribution of the existing research evidence linking human health and well-being with the Baltic Sea ecosystems. The types of ecosystem services supplied by the Baltic Sea and the associated health and well-being impacts will be categorised and presented in a graphical matrix, illustrating ecosystem service type and the types of health and well-being outcomes. The systematic mapping procedure will result in a narrative report published with a searchable database, which will contain a descriptive summary of the information from all of the eligible studies. The systematic map and database will be displayed on the website of the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE).

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Rapid speciation in a newly opened postglacial marine environment, the Baltic Sea

BMC Evolutionary Biology ◽

10.1186/1471-2148-9-70 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 70 ◽

Cited By ~ 73

Author(s):

Ricardo T Pereyra ◽

Lena Bergström ◽

Lena Kautsky ◽

Kerstin Johannesson

Keyword(s):

Baltic Sea ◽

Marine Environment ◽

The Baltic Sea ◽

Rapid Speciation ◽

The Baltic

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Deoxygenation impacts on Baltic Sea cod: Dramatic declines in ecosystem services of an iconic keystone predator

AMBIO ◽

10.1007/s13280-021-01572-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Alessandro Orio ◽

Yvette Heimbrand ◽

Karin Limburg

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Baltic Sea ◽

Gadus Morhua ◽

Generalized Additive Model ◽

Additive Model ◽

Maximum Length ◽

The Baltic Sea ◽

Hypoxic Zone ◽

The Baltic ◽

Baltic Cod

AbstractThe intensified expansion of the Baltic Sea’s hypoxic zone has been proposed as one reason for the current poor status of cod (Gadus morhua) in the Baltic Sea, with repercussions throughout the food web and on ecosystem services. We examined the links between increased hypoxic areas and the decline in maximum length of Baltic cod, a demographic proxy for services generation. We analysed the effect of different predictors on maximum length of Baltic cod during 1978–2014 using a generalized additive model. The extent of minimally suitable areas for cod (oxygen concentration ≥ 1 ml l−1) is the most important predictor of decreased cod maximum length. We also show, with simulations, the potential for Baltic cod to increase its maximum length if hypoxic areal extent is reduced to levels comparable to the beginning of the 1990s. We discuss our findings in relation to ecosystem services affected by the decrease of cod maximum length.

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Hydrological and hydrochemical underpinnings of primary production and division of the Russian sector in the Gdansk basin of the Baltic sea

Океанология ◽

10.31857/s0030-157459156-71 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 59 (1) ◽

pp. 56-71

Author(s):

E. A. Kudryavtseva ◽

S. V. Aleksandrov

Keyword(s):

Primary Production ◽

Baltic Sea ◽

Marine Environment ◽

Bottom Topography ◽

Water Area ◽

Nutrient Concentrations ◽

The Baltic Sea ◽

Environment Temperature ◽

Russian Sector ◽

The Baltic

The distribution patterns of absolute and specific values of primary production in the upper 10-m layer depending on the physical and chemical condition of the marine environment (temperature, salinity, depth, bottom topography and configuration of the coastline, and nutrient concentrations) were distinguished in the Russian sector in the Gdansk Basin of the Baltic Sea based on long-term research data (2003–2015). Based on the results, the considered water area was divided into five regions: Cape Taran, the base of the Curonian Spit, the plateau of Rybachy, the open sea, and the Gdansk Bay (northeastern part). These regions are characterized by higher correlations of primary production and parameters of the marine environment compared to regression analysis for the regions distinguished by bathymetry. Primary production is the most closely correlated with temperature over the entire water area and with nutrients concentrations in seaward regions.

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Development of marine landscape maps for the Baltic Sea and the Kattegat using geophysical and hydrographical parameters

Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Bulletin ◽

10.34194/geusb.v13.4977 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 13 ◽

pp. 61-64 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Zyad K. Al-Hamdani ◽

Johnny Reker ◽

Jørgen O. Leth ◽

Anu Reijonen ◽

Aarno T. Kotilainen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Baltic Sea ◽

Marine Environment ◽

Leisure Activities ◽

Biological Information ◽

Marine Biodiversity ◽

The European Union ◽

The Baltic Sea ◽

Marine Habitats ◽

The Baltic ◽

Bothnian Bay

The Baltic Sea is one of the largest brackish water bodies in the world (Segerstråle 1957) with a number of basins varying from almost fresh water in the northern part of the Bothnian Bay via the more brackish conditions in the southern part to the saline waters of the Kattegat. The Baltic Sea is subject to severe environmental degradation caused by commercial and leisure activities, including fisheries, dredging, tourism, coas t a l development and land-based pollution sources. This causes severe pressures on vulnerable marine habitats and natural re- sources, and a tool for aiding marine management is therefore strongly needed. The marine landscape concept presented by Roff &Taylor (2000) is based on the use of available broad-scale geological, physical and hydrographical data to prepare ecologically meaningful maps for areas with little or no biological information. The concept, which was elaborated by Day & Roff (2000) was applied in UK waters (Connor et al. 2006) before it was adopted by the BALANCE project described here. The aim of developing marine landscape maps is to characterise the marine environment of the Baltic Sea region (the Baltic Sea together with the Kattegat) using geophysical and hydrographical parameters. Such maps can be applied, for example, to an assessment of the Baltic-wide network of marine protected areas, and thus provide a sustainable ecosystem-based approach to the protection of the marine environment from human activities, and contribute to the conservation of marine biodiversity. The BALANCE project is based on transnational and cross-sectoral co-operation with participants from nine countries surrounding the Baltic Sea as well as Norway (Fig. 1), and is partially financed by the European Union through the BSR INTERREG IIIB programme.

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